Today an FBI spokesperson confirmed that in addition to charges of espionage prosecutors would also be charging Anna Chapman with the crime of airbrushing. Apparently Anna Chapman, 28, a New Yorker with a multi-million-dollar property business, could not be clearly identified by her Facebook photograph as the original image had been substantially altered by a process known as “airbrushing”.

Responding to criticism that the FBI had allowed this cell to operate unchecked for many years the spokesperson said that the delay was a consequence of their not being able to match the Facebook photograph with immigration records until such time as it was realised that the photograph had been airbrushed. The spokesperson added that, even when they had established the true identity of Anna Chapman, their resources were then overstretched by having to positively identify all her 38,653 Friends on Facebook in the event that some of them were also members of her spy network.

In England, MI5 officers have been interviewing Anna Chapman’s ex-husband, Alex Chapman, to obtain background information about the glamorous spy. The UK Government is taking a serious view of this case. The UK Government Health Department especially is concerned that airbrushed images of female spies could promote eating disorders in young impressionable women.